June 30, 2006

American Soldiers Accused Of Raping Iraqi Girl And Murdering Her Family

By Tim | June 30, 2006 | Tags: , , Middle East |

Five U.S. soldiers are being investigated for the alleged rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and her family:

Forbes—Five U.S. Army soldiers are being investigated for allegedly raping a young woman, then killing her and three members of her family in Iraq, the U.S. military said Friday.

The soldiers also allegedly burned the body of the woman they are accused of raping. …

When I read the details of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker’s torture, I was shocked, horrified, and outraged. And still am. And the act of raping, murdering, burning a girl, and murdering her family outrages me just as much as what those inhuman terrorists did to our soldiers. I don’t know if the allegations against the five soldiers are true or not, but I know human nature and I’d say it’s possible the crime could have occurred.

Regardless of whether or not these allegations are true, this horrific crime will be used to justify continuing attacks and atrocities against soldiers and to enflame anti-American passions in the Muslim world.

Allegations true or not, I offer my heartfelt condolences to the family.

Resources:

Google Maps: Mahmoudiya, Iraq

Update (6/29/2006 1:32pm)

The BBC is reporting that one soldier has confessed to participating in the crime and has been arrested.

Update (6/29/2006 1:54pm)

A big “Whoa” on this story. Yahoo! News is running a story saying the five soldiers are from Tucker and Menchaca’s platoon. Could their brutal murders have been retaliation? And apparently the horrific way they died led one of the five accused soldiers to confess. Big “Whoa”:

“However, a U.S. official close to the investigation said at least one of the soldiers, all assigned to the 502nd Infantry Regiment, has admitted his role and been arrested. Two soldiers from the same regiment were slain this month when they were kidnapped at a checkpoint near Youssifiyah.

“The official told the AP the accused soldiers were from the same platoon as the two slain soldiers. The military has said one and possibly both of the slain soldiers were tortured and beheaded.

“The official said the mutilation of the slain soldiers stirred feelings of guilt and led at least one of them to reveal the rape-slaying on June 22.”

Source: Yahoo! News

Hat tip: Allah Pundit

Update (6/29/2006 2:26pm)

The Jawa Report is sounding off with its take on the alleged crime:

The Jawa Report—The specifics of this particular case, at least as reported by the AP, are too fantastic to take seriously, even if a soldier has allegedly confessed to being part of some of it.

It is quite likely that women in Iraq have been raped by U.S. soldiers. It’s just a matter of statistical probabilities. For every X number of men, there are Y number of perverts and criminals. Even in the military. So, when hundreds of thousands of men are rotated into a nearly lawless situation, it is only a matter of time and opportunity that misdeeds will occur.

But to take seriously the notion that FIVE soldiers gang-raped a girl, murdered her, burned her body, and then murdered her family to cover up the crime is simply beyond the pale. It would make a good movie script, but it’s just too far out there to even begin to take seriously.

And if the accusation is not that this is what happened, then the AP has done an excellent job of making their story sound as if that is what happened–which is a crime in itself. …

Update (7/1/2006 3:58pm)

More details are coming out today. It is believed that the soldiers studied the family for about a week before carrying out the alleged crime. A soldier that overheard the accused planning the crime later saw them with “bloodstained” clothes.

Source: Washington Post

Update (7/3/2006 7:34am)

The Washington Post has a story up with names of the victims and a few more details about the alleged crime.

The victims are said to be:

Abeer Qasim Hamza,15, raped and shot in the head, body also showed burns;
Fakhriyah Taha Muhsin, 34, killed by gunshots to her head;
Qasim Hamza Raheem, 45, whose head was “smashed” by bullets;
Hadeel Qasim Hamza, 7, Abeer’s sister, shot.

An unnamed military official pointed out one discrepancy in reports about the alleged cime; that is the age of Abeer. She is believed to be 20, not 15.

Source: Washington Post

Update (7/3/2006 4:56pm)

Steven D. Green of Marion, North CarolinaBreaking: Steven D. Green of Marion, North Carolina has been arrested in the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and her family.

Source: WRAL

 

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